Contact with two pin receiving members



Nov. 21, 1967 H. E. RUEHLEMANN 3,354,424

CONTACT WITH TWO PIN RECEIVING MEMBERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16, 1965 INVENTOR. fieeeewr 5. RUEHL EMA/w BY aka/74W, W W

ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 21, 1967 H. E. RUEHLEMANN 3,354,424

CONTACT WITH TWO PIN RECEIVING MEMBERS Filed March 16, 1965 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HERBERT E. RUE/IL [MA/WV caw wuwwk coew ATTO/P/VEVS.

United States Patent 3,354,424 CONTACT WITH TWO PIN RECEIVING MEMBERS Herbert E. Ruehlemann, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., assignor to Elco Corporation, Willow Grove, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 440,145 1 Claim. (Cl. 339-220) This invention relates to a contact having a tail section comprised of two pin receptacles of a frusto-conical configuration, each of which are adapted to receive a pin in such a manner as the pin is engaged by a force proportional to the depth of insertion thereof and is a continuation-iu-part of my copending patent application Ser. No. 192,670, filed May 7, 1962, and now abandoned.

Previous attempts to associate pin-receiving means with a contact have resulted in contacts being deficient in one or more desirable characteristics. Either the tail section was not sturdy enough in view of the requirement of a thin material for the mating section or the mating section was so thick as to be unsatisfactory.

Where the contact is stamped from a thin material with a thickness of 0.012 inch, the tail portion thereof is quite weak and obviously will be quickly damaged whenever a taper pin is inserted in a receptacle formed in the contact. In an effort to solve this problem, experiments were carried out employing a reinforcing sleeve about a receptacle formed in a contact tail of thin material. However, this construction has proved to be quite expensive and the expenses are multiplied when working with miniaturized parts.

Similar considerable expenses exist when the contact is specially cast or machined to have ,a thin, flexible mating section and a thicker tail section including taperpin receptacles.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a contact with a relatively thin, flexible mating section which also possesses a bifurcated taper-pin receptacle tail with adequate strength to withstand the repeated insertion and removal of pins while retaining sufficient resiliency in order to adequately hold the pins.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved connector member having two pin receptacles extending from a base with the free edges of the receptacles lying near the base, and with a dimple formed in the base extending toward the free edges to close substantially the receptacles except at the ends thereof.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved connector member wherein the tail section of contacts held therein is positioned on a line lying at a 53 angle with respect to an edge of the connector casing.

The foregoing as well as other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a connector member including an insulating casing with contacts having a tail section in a plane lying at an acute angle with respect to the plane of the mating section. The tail section is composed of two pin-receiving receptacles of tapered construction that extend from a base and terminate in free edges lying near the base. The base has a dimple therein extending toward the 'free edges to close the receptacles adjacent the dimple. The receptacles .are positioned on a line lying at a 53 angle with respect to an edge of the connector or casing.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: 7

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a contact embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of the contact of FIG. 1 showing the mating section and body section thereof in side elevation and showing in section the bifurcated taper-pin receptacle tail;

FIG. 3 is .a top plan View of the contact of FIG. 1 showing a taper-pin secured in the taper-pin receptacles of the contact tail;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an insulating casing having several of the contacts of FIG. 1 secured therein with portions broken away for the sake of clarity;

FIG. 6-A is a plan view of a contact constituting a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the lines 77 of FIG. 6-A;

FIG. 8 is a sectional View taken along the lines 88 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a rear elevational view of a connector casing having inserted therein contacts like that shown in FIG. 6A.

Refer-ring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, a contact with two pin-receiving members embodying the present invention is generally shown at 10 in FIG. 1. Contact 10 basically comprises a bifurcated mating section 12, a body section 14 and a bifurcated taper-pin receptacle tail 16.

The bifurcated mating section 12 is constructed in accordance with contacts sold under the trademark Varicon" and is disclosed and claimed in United States Patent No. 2,828,474. The entire contact 10 including mating section 12 is generally flat and is constructed of 0.026 inch spring-hard Phosphor bronze, copper or other suitable electrically conductive material having the necessary balance of resiliency and strength required herein.

The mating section 12 is bifurcated by virtue of a slot 18 along the longitudinal center to provide a pair of contact legs 20 and 22 which are spaced from each other by virtue of the slot 18. The outer edges of the contact legs 20 and 22 are generally parallel to each other until the points 24 are attained and then the outer edges of the legs 20 and 22 taper somewhat sharply toward each other to the flattened tips 26. The contact legs then taper toward each other and meet the inner edges 28 of the contact legs at the slot 18.

As shown in FIG. 5, the inner edges 28 are chamfered to present substantially flat contact surfaces 30. In mating position, a contact with a mating section similarly constructed will mate perpendicularly with respect to the contact of FIG. 1 as described in United States Patent No. 2,828,474 and United States Patent No. 2,994,056 so that the chamfered surfaces of the mating sections are in engagement with each other to provide a large area of electrical contact. The distance between the inner edges 28 of the contact legs is slightly less than the thickness of the contact so that when a complementary contact is engaged in slot 18, the contact legs and 22 are slightly forced apart to engage the mating contact under tension. Such tension is considerably enhanced by the provision of an enlarged opening 32 at the rearward end of the slot 18. Thus, the opening 32 provides a hinge action which affords making the slot 18 slightly narrower than would otherwise be possible. As the two cooperating contacts are brought into mating relation, their respective legs 20 and 22 are spread apart slightly by virtue of the aforementioned hinge action to permit a smooth sliding action between the respective pairs of contact legs while still providing adequate tension to ensure good electrical contact.

It is to be understood that other types of bifurcated mating sections may be employed and that the mating sections may be male, female or other types known in the art so long as satisfactory mating can occur where the thickness of the mating section is of the order of 0.026 inch and the material at the thickness will yield a satisfactory combination of resiliency and strength in the tail section as will be described hereinafter.

The mating section 12 further includes edges 34 which are spaced slightly closer to each other than the outer edges of the legs 20 and 22 as defined by the corners 36. The mating section 12 terminates in rear shoulders 37.

The body section 14 comprises a restrictive neck portion defined by sides 38 emanating from rear shoulders 37. The sides 38 are substantially set-in from the edges 34. One of the sides 38 tapers outwardly in concave shoulder 39 to a point 40 and then turns inwardly in a graceful arc .42. The other side 38 tapers outwardly in concave shoulder 41 to a point 43 and then continues. to taper outwardly in a graceful are 44. The bifurcated taperpin receptacles tails 46 and 48 project backwardly from the arcs 42 and 44.

As shown in FIG. 1, each section of the tail 16 is in the nature of a barrel and is created by forming the longitudinal edges of the relatively wide tail area 49 into two frusto-conical taper-pin receptacles 46 and 48 formed and extending from a base 49 (FIG. 7) with the free edges 51 of the receptacles lying near base 49. Each free edge 51 however does not contact base area 49. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the taper-pin receptacles 46 and 48 have chambers 60 and 62 which taper outwardly and backwardly in order to tightly receive a taper-pin assembly 50 as shown in FIG. 3.

The taper pin assembly 50 generally includes a contact pin 52 having attached thereto a ferrule 54 for the reception of the conductor 56 of a male contact from cable 58. Although the taper-pin receptacle tails 46 and 48 are constructed of material having a thickness of 0.026 inch, the tapering construction thereof and the spacing from tail area 49 yield sufficient resiliency and freedom of movement so that when the taper-pin 50 is inserted in either of the chambers 60 or 62 therof, the inner walls of the pin receptacles may be slightly forced apart to give rise to a clamping action upon the taper pin. Such resiliency persists when the taper-pin 50 is withdrawn so that when it is reinserted it will again be tightly chambers of the taper-pin receptacle. As shown in the construction of FIG. 4, the taper-pin receptacle tail is formed by curving portions of the tail section 16 until they approach the tail area 49.

It follows that a tail with a single taper-pin receptacle may be created by merely employing a narrow tail area 49 and folding the longitudinal edges thereof so as to substantially meet in the formation of a frusto-conical body with an annular opening tapering outwardly and backwardly along the lines as shown in FIG. 2.

It is thus seen that the bifurcated taper-pin receptacle tail of the present invention may be constructed of a material having suflicient thickness to withstand repeated insertion and removal of a taper pin, but yet being of sufficient resiliency as enhanced by the spacing from tail area 49 to allow for such repeated use. By forming the held in the mating section in accordance with the principles of said Patent No. 2,828,474, the use of material having a thickness of 0.026 inch will not adversely interfere with the performance of the mating section.

The contacts of FIG. 1 may be assembled in a casing 66 as shown in FIG. 6. The casing 66 includes lower semicircular contact chambers 68 and upper circular contact chambers 70. Each of the contact chambers includes a locking shoulder 72 in order that the contacts may be firmly secured to the casing 66. In use, each contact 10 is inserted in the casing 66 from the rear thereof in one of the chambers 66 or 68. When the contact has been inserted so that the concave shoulders 39 and 41 of the body section 14 abut against the rear edge 73 of the locking shoulder 72, the tail section 16 is twisted with respect to the mating section 12 at the body section 14. Such twisting proceeds until the angle between the plane of the mating section 12 and that of the tail section 16 is approximately 53 and the concave shoulders 39 and 41 of the body portion 14 lie behind the locking shoulder 72 of the casing. Thus, it is no longer possible to withdraw the contacts from the casing as the rear shoulder 37 of the mating section is locked forwardly of the locking shoulder 72 and abuts there against if such withdrawal is attempted. A guide slot 74 is also formed in the casing 66 for reception of the leading edge of a printed circuit board (not shown) which has contacts afiixed thereto for mating with the contacts of insulating casing 66 in accordance with United States Patent No. 2,994,056.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 6-A to 9 and includes a contact which is generally like the one shown in FIGS. 1 to 6. However, a dimple is formed in base 49 and extends toward the free edges 51 of the receptacles 46 and 48 as shown in FIG. 8. This has the effect of separating a portion of the length of the receptacles so that an inserted pin will be maintained in a particular receptacle. and will not tend to urge the free edges 51 away from the base 49. In other words, the dimple 80 acts as a guide means and has the effect of preserving the configuration offered by the relationship between the free edges and the base.

As shown in FIG. 9, the receptacles 46 and 48 are twisted with respect to the mating section 12 in such a way that the receptacles are positioned on a line lying at a 53 angle with respect to the upper edge of the connector casing 82 which has flanges 84. The particular 53 angle has been found to permit the maximum packing of contacts with two pin-receiving receptacles, and is found to be superior to the usual 45 angle because of the odd configuration of the receptacles.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed as the invention is:

In a connector member comprising an insulating casing with at least one sheet metal contact including a forward mating section having a fiat surface portion and a body section, said contact further including an integral rear tail section having a base, said tail section extending rearwardly of the body section, said base lying at an acute angle with respect to the flat surface portion of said mating section, said contact and said casing having locking shoulder means, said body section comprising means which permit said tail section to be twisted to said acute angle so that said locking shoulder means cooperate with each other to prevent withdrawal of said contact from said casing, said tail section being comprised of two pin receiving receptacles of a frusto-conical configuration extending from said base and terminating in free edges lying near said base, each of said pin receptacles tapering inwardly and forwardly, whereby a pin inserted in one of said receptacles is engaged by a force proportional to the depth of insertion of said pin, said basehaving a dimple 5 rmed therein extending toward said free edges to separate said receptacles along a portion of the length thereof, each of said receptacles being positioned on a line lying at a 53 angle with respect to an edge of said connector casing, said 53 angle permitting maximum packing of a plurality of contacts.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,158,004 5/1939 Douglas 339-198 2,664,552 12/1953 Ericsson et a1. 339-192 Powell 339-17 Taormina 339-45 Heath 339-192 X Fox 339-185 Kennedy 339-17 Fox 339-49 X Urban 339-192 FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner.

10 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Examiner.

P. TEITELBAUM, Assistant Examiner. 

